Billy McCullough

{{for|the communist and trade unionist|William McCullough (Northern Ireland politician)}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name =

| image =

| fullname = William James McCullough{{Hugman|12345|accessdate=2 November 2017}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1935|7|27|df=y}}

| birth_place = Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland

| death_date =

| height =

| position = Left back

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = {{0|0000}}–1958 | clubs1 = Portadown

| years2 = 1958–1966 | clubs2 = Arsenal | caps2 = 253 | goals2 = 4

| years3 = 1966–1967 | clubs3 = Millwall | caps3 = 19 | goals3 = 0

| years4 = clubs4 = Bedford Town

| years5 = clubs5 = Cork Celtic

| years6 = | clubs6 = Derry City

| nationalyears1 = 1961–1966

| nationalteam1 = Northern Ireland

| nationalcaps1 = 10

| nationalgoals1 = 0

}}

William James McCullough (born 27 July 1935) is a Northern Irish former footballer who made more than 250 appearances for Arsenal in the Football League and was capped 10 times for Northern Ireland.

Career

Born in Carrickfergus, McCullough first played for Portadown, before being signed in 1958 for £5,000 by London club Arsenal.{{cite web |url=https://www.arsenal.com/historic/players/billy-mccullough |title=Billy McCullough |publisher=Arsenal F.C. |accessdate=2 November 2017}} A left back, he soon made his debut for the club, against Luton Town on 26 December 1958. He only played ten matches that season, but after Len Wills was moved to right back at the start of 1959-60, McCullough became Arsenal's' regular left back.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

McCullough became known for his consistency and fitness – he wore the No. 3 shirt for Arsenal for the next six seasons, missing only a handful of matches. Although Arsenal had reached third place in his first season at the club, for the rest of his career in the side the club dwelled in mid-table and never challenged for honours.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

He won his first cap for Northern Ireland in a friendly against Italy on 25 April 1961, which Northern Ireland lost 3-2. He went on to appear ten times for his country, scoring no goals, with his final cap coming against England in a 2-0 defeat on 22 October 1966.

By 1965-66, McCullough had competition for his place, in the shape of the young Peter Storey. When Bertie Mee took over at Arsenal at the end of that season, looking to build a young side, he transfer listed the 31-year-old McCullough during the close season.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} He had played 268 matches in total for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals. He was sold to Millwall in August 1966, and later had spells at Bedford Town, Cork Celtic and Derry City.{{cite news |url=http://www.whtimes.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal_legend_billy_mccullough_discusses_becoming_a_father_figure_to_george_best_joining_the_gunners_100_club_and_taking_cork_celtic_to_the_irish_cup_final_1_4421216 |title=Arsenal legend Billy McCullough discusses becoming a father figure to George Best, joining the Gunners' 100 Club and taking Cork Celtic to the Irish Cup final |first=Tom |last=Sharp |newspaper=Welwyn Hatfield Times |date=20 February 2016 |accessdate=7 April 2017}}

Club statistics

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ! rowspan="2" \|Club ! rowspan="2" \|Season ! colspan="3" \|League ! colspan="2" \|FA Cup ! colspan="2" \|Europe ! colspan="2" \|Total
Division !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals
rowspan="8" \|Arsenal \|1958–59{{Sfn\|James\|Andrews\|Kelly\|2018\|p=256}} \|First Division \|10 \|0 \|1 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|11 \|0
1959–60{{Sfn\|James\|Andrews\|Kelly\|2018\|p=260}} \|First Division \|33 \|0 \|0 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|33 \|0
1960–61{{Sfn\|James\|Andrews\|Kelly\|2018\|p=264}} \|First Division \|41 \|0 \|1 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|42 \|0
1961–62{{Sfn\|James\|Andrews\|Kelly\|2018\|p=268}} \|First Division \|40 \|0 \|2 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|42 \|0
1962–63{{Sfn\|James\|Andrews\|Kelly\|2018\|p=272}} \|First Division \|42 \|3 \|3 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|45 \|3
1963–64{{Sfn\|James\|Andrews\|Kelly\|2018\|p=276}} \|First Division \|40 \|1 \|4 \|0 \|4{{Efn\|Appearances in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup\|name=ICFC}} \|1 \|48 \|2
1964–65{{Sfn\|James\|Andrews\|Kelly\|2018\|p=280}} \|First Division \|30 \|0 \|0 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|30 \|0
1965–66{{Sfn\|James\|Andrews\|Kelly\|2018\|p=284}} \|First Division \|17 \|0 \|0 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|17 \|0
colspan="3" \|Career total !253 !4 !11 !0 !4 !1 !268 !5

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

! rowspan="2" |Club

! rowspan="2" |Season

! colspan="3" |League

! colspan="2" |FA Cup

! colspan="2" |Europe

! colspan="2" |Total

Division

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps